Volunteers are part of a bigger picture of continued commitment to education and the work they do has dramatically improved the English language skills of the girls in the Rosie May home - a vital first step in breaking a cycle of poverty and institutionalisation.

I never imagined what it felt like to run on empty for days on end. I never knew my mouth would become full of ulcers because my body hadn't felt proper rest in weeks. I never knew the fatigue I'd feel as a breastfeeding, working mother of two under two.

Although I am still a (very) young author and my first book has only been out for a couple of months, I think that I have acquired along my short journey some insights into the loosely termed 'writing industry'.

Their first language is English (spoken with a British accent), their use of diminutives in Spanish eclipses mine, they eat Indian food as regularly as they eat tacos, one boy has long hair due to his Sikh heritage and because many a surfer in Sayulita has long hair.

When there is such an emphasis on achieving, regular assessments, bigger class sizes at school with lessons led by overworked teachers dealing with classes of children with increased varying educational needs and staff without adequate support or training, these statistics support my experience of children that are stressed and unable to articulate their feelings.

A chatterbox is quite happy to talk to anyone about anything. And by anyone I mean; strangers in the street, the ladies in the supermarket and the neighbour you don't know very well. And by anything I mean; what picture they have on their pants today, that Daddy parped really loud this morning, and that "Mummy said our neighbours are very noisy."

Wanna know how to be self employed as a parent over the hols without going la la? Here is my short and sweet lowdown on living, loving and working during what can be a challenging time for self employed parents.

We need a new policy from government level down if we are to catch these vulnerable children before they fall. As shocking as these figures are, we haven't got time to re-educate parents into being more honest with themselves.

Recent weeks have given us a sobering reminder of the dreadful impact of child sexual exploitation. The further revelations regarding Rotherham coupled with the announcements of new investigations in Manchester, Halifax and Essex, reinforce the belief that we are only beginning to scratch the surface of this emerging national blight.

You cannot babysit your own kids, what you are doing is being a responsible adult or parent and looking after the produce of your (probably) misguided fumblings (anyone who claims this clearly has no wish to be a dad so it must have been a mistake, am I right?).

Mid-January, ten years ago, the colours and sunshine of my first day in San Miguel had me pinned. A week later, I met the person who was to become my husband. Today, we are raising three young children.

Here are my tales from the front line. The rookie mistakes I made in my first five years of parenting. Of course, I only made them with my first son because when the second came along I knew exactly what I was doing. Can you smell smoke?!

I was aware that the language was old fashioned, and in some cases offensive, but it never got in the way of my love of the books or the stories they told because (like most children) I cared more about characters than grammar.

It has recently become apparent to me that little sorcerers have infiltrated the Walker Camp. Disguised as our offspring too, would you believe! I am in increasing awe - or is it fear?! - of their ability to apply mastery and cunning in a plethora of situations.

So why, when most live nearby and those who don't could catch the bus, do parents insist on clogging up the already busy roads, and disrupting other people's time starved lives, just so their little bag of snot bundle of joy doesn't have to walk?

The best source of help for children in these situations is usually their parents. Whether your child is being bullied or bullying others, it's important to know what's going on in their lives you so can help address the issue and any potentially larger problems behind it.

For both men and women to truly 'have it all' we need flexibility in the way we work so that we can take better care of our own needs and those of our children. This is vital not only to help prevent burnout of the workforce but also to prevent the burnout of our children.

Milestones are there as a guideline as to what your child should be doing, but can be a bit misleading too as we are told 'every child is individual' and 'they'll get there in their own time' still we can't help but panic and wonder about the 'unknown' or 'what if'.

Many a meal and tantrum later we together came to a conclusion that will come as no surprise to most parents. As one fed-up family put it: "these restaurants would go out of business if they treated their grown-up guests the same."